With Paul Greengrass exiting the Bourne series and prepping his Martin Luther King Jr. assassination flick Memphis, Tony Gilroy has been set to write and direct The Bourne Legacy. A 2012 release in sight and Matt Damon not coming to the series until Greengrass does, we’ve heard zip regarding casting. That is, until now.
Variety reports the short list for acting contenders include Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch, and Kellan Lutz. Gilroy, who wrote all three Bourne films, has had meeting this week with the above actors for the project. The action thriller will focus on “a new assassin with a similar background,” with no Bourne present. While the mentioned contenders are all fairly established, Gilroy may explore casting newcomers. A spring production is planned, and the studio would like to confirm a lead before acquiring other cast members, so we many know sooner and later who will pick up the hit franchise.
I honestly wouldn’t be happy with any of these contenders getting the role. We’ll see how he does in Source Code, but Gyllenhaal’s latest blockbuster Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was quite a failure. I’ve had my Tobey Maguire action fill with the Spider-Man series and don’t get me started on Garret Hedlund in Tron: Legacy. Kitsch may prove himself in Peter Berg‘s Battleship and Lutz in Immortals, but I’d like to see a newcomer take on the series.
UPDATE: Deadline reports the following names are also in the mix: Joel Edgerton, Josh Hartnett, Paul Dano, Michael Pitt, Oscar Isaac, Michael Fassbender, Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer, and Benjamin Walker.
The Bourne Legacy is scheduled for a August 2012 release.
Who would you like to see get the lead?